After I got dropped off from Cornwall last week, Dan Pointon continued back up north to Westray and relocated the Steller's eider the next morning. I was working all week and didn't have a day off till the following Sunday, so I had to wait. The bird then moved by the weekend and was relocated on Papa Westray.
By the time it got to Sunday afternoon, the charter boat I had organised for the morning had been cancelled due to the weather, so I sorted flights out from Kirkwall. I teamed up with Neill Hunt, Pete Ellis, and Geoff McLeod on Sunday evening, and we headed north. The weather on the way up was terrible but we arrived at Scrabster just before 6.00am
THE SNOW PLOUGHS WERE OUT AS WE HEADED NORTH
The ferry crossing from Scrabster to Stromness was uneventful for a seawatch as the weather was dreadful, with gale-force winds and torrential rain. On arrival, we headed for Lambholm and looked for a blue rock thrush that had been found in a quarry, but there was no sign, with the weather not helping matters. The day soon passed and we headed for a 3pm flight to Papa Westray.
BOARDING THE FLIGHT TO PAPA WESTRAY
On arrival, we were met by Jennifer from the hostel, who drove us down to where the bird had been. We soon connected with Steller's eider just off shore as we arrived. The wind was really getting up now, but we followed the bird for about half an hour until it went dark.
STELLER'S EIDER 1ST WINTER DRAKE
THE LADS ENJOYING VIEWS OF THE BIRD
We spent the evening having a few celebratory beers in the hostel we were staying in and then got our heads down as we wanted to try again for the bird again before our 9am flight.
We were back on site from 7.30am and soon got on the eider again, really close to the shoreline. The time soon passed, and we were back on a flight to Kirkwall.
A BIG THANK YOU TO JENNIFER FOR SORTING US OUT WITH ARE ACCOMMODATION AND LIFTS TO THE BIRD
On arrival back on mainland Orkney, we headed to Finstown, where we connected with 2 waxwings.
As we were watching the Waxwings, Dan Pointon phoned me to say that a pod of Orcas had been seen passing the quarry at Lambholm, where the Blue Rock Thrush had been. We headed there, and I got my first ever views of Killer Whale. What a sight! This just topped off an incredible trip!
We eventually arrived home at 4.00am Wednesday morning absolutely shattered,but the whole trip had been fantastic.